Critical Fire Weather Conditions in the Plains; Heavy Snow in the Sierra and Northern Rockies

Gusty winds and warm, very dry conditions will lead to a Critical Risk of fire weather across much of the High Plains through Thursday. A Pacific storm system will bring strong winds and precipitation from the Pacific Northwest to the Northern Rockies, with heavy mountain snow in the Sierra-Nevada and northern Rockies. Heavy snow will continue in the northern Rockies on Thursday. Read More >

Overview

A Storm System moved northeast from the Gulf Coast States on Thursday the 11th of December, and brought with it a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to Central PA. The precipitation lasted into the early morning of the 12th.

While the lower elevations in the Southern and Central sections of the state remained plain rain through the entire event, the ridges in the Central Mountains received heavy ice accretions from freezing rain. Most of the precipitation across the Northern Mountains fell as snow, but some icing was also seen there.

Heavy rain fell in the Lower Susquehanna Valley, and even set a record daily rainfall for the 11th at Harrisburg, where 2.29 inches of rain fell. This heavy rain created minor flooding along the Swatara Creek.


Surface map from the morning of Thursday 12-11-2008	Map of Snow and Ice Totals	Hydrograph (River Stage Time-Plot) for the Swatara Creek at Harper Tavern, PA